In printing industries, papers used in digital printing systems can require adherence to stringent quality standards. Such printing paper can withstand physical extremes such as high heat, pressure and electrical charge without curling or loss of dimensional stability. Also, the image quality of the printing paper should be maintained throughout printing, finishing and binding processes. Such paper is ideally free of paper dust, loose fibers, and other particle debris, which can cause contamination of the imaging process in the printing systems and also cause image quality problems.
The majority of paper-borne debris is generated from cut edges of the paper, which are particularly problematic with higher contaminates due to cutting and slitting of the paper during manufacturing. The cut quality can yield lesser amounts of paper debris, since the quantity of the paper debris is directly proportional to the quality of the cut. Such cut quality can be determined largely by the sharpness of the blade. Paper debris in Xerographic printing can cause problems in the paper path and finishing areas, which lead to a significant noise input affecting printing system reliability. Similarly, the debris in ink jet printing can cause print head jetting failures (such as paper clumping with ink jets), which result in image quality defects such as streaks, drop-out, etc. Paper debris can also adversely affect the development operation in the printing systems and subsequently the image quality of the paper.
In some prior art inkjet printing, vacuum devices are utilized in the printing systems to prevent inkjet failures due to paper dust, loose fibers and debris in inkjet printers, especially in and around inkjet print heads. In addition, larger xerographic printing systems can also utilize vacuum devices for cleaning web-fed paper paths and a residual toner from the surface of a photoreceptor drum in order to avoid image quality defects due to paper dust particles. Furthermore, a vacuum pump, fan and other air movement device can also be provided within the printing machine to remove the paper debris and dust. Such vacuum abatement systems can prevent contaminants from reaching critical printer components, but the drawback is the creation of additional resistance to abatement airflow by connecting ducts. The connecting ducts can add complexity and cost for degrading the airflow in the abatement system, since the connecting ducts consist of several components and connections.
In the majority of prior art, several types of paper debris abatement systems can be utilized to provide an effective means for removing unwanted debris from paper in its path. But, such abatement systems can exhibit substantial limitations for removing contaminating particles, especially for high volume printing. The abatement system also increases the production expenses of the printing systems. In addition, these abatement systems can exhibit a rotating brush and bristles can contact the paper to brush the surface of the web, which affects the physical property of the printing paper. For large printing applications, it is usually not cost effective to solve the paper debris problem by lightly scrubbing the paper and vacuuming away the loose debris. Then, it is highly desirable to reduce the paper debris for successful optimization of the printing paper for digital printing systems and processes without increasing the production cost.
A need therefore exists for an improved system and method for encapsulating edges of a printing paper, which avoids contamination of various subsystems of the printer or printing press due to paper debris. Such an improved method is described in greater detail herein.